Tampa Video Production Company Wins 5 Awards at 48 Hour Film Festival

Tampa Video Production Company Wins 5 Awards at 48 Hour Film Festival

It’s that time of the year again… The 48 Hour Film Festival!

From July 31st through August 2nd, filmmakers around the country created teams to participate in the 48 Hour Film Project’s Festival. Our Tampa video production company has participated several times (and even won in 2012!). This year, 28 teams around Tampa, and thousands around the world competed. Litewave Media’s team had 25 crew members and actors who helped bring our film to life. With only 48 hours, the teams had to write, film and edit a 7-minute short film – which would then be screened at a local movie theater the next week!

Our team was honored to be nominator for 9 awards this year! Here’s the scoop…

Our Tampa video production company films Tampa short film for 48 Hour Film Festival

Our Tampa 48 hour team gets ready to film!

Friday 7pm. Our Tampa video production crew went to the kickoff event for the festival. Our production coordinator, Ana Christina Sanchez, pulled our genre: “Fish out of water” from the hat. Besides the movie’s genre, teams were also given 3 essential elements that had to be included in each film to qualify for the contest. This year the character requirement was an investigator named “Michael/Myra Jillerson,” the prop was a “pair of pliers” and the line of dialogue was “Nothing can stop me.” After getting all the elements, it was time to get creative!

Our Tampa video production company films Tampa short film for 48 Hour Film Festival

Our writing team, Christian Cashmir, Jason Henne and our DP, Ryan Grosjean, writing the script at our Tampa video studio

9pm. Litewave Studios. After the kickoff event, our team met at our headquarters, Litewave Studios Tampa video studio, to brainstorm ideas for the story. When the brainstorming session, was over our writing team, Jason Henne, Christian Cashmir and Anthony Brock buckled down and finished the script to have it ready for our call time the next morning.

Our Tampa video production company films Tampa short film for 48 Hour Film Festival

Our director, Christian Cashmir, films with a Canon C100 from our Florida camera equipment rental

Director Christian Cashmir says, “The story centers around a group of friends playing a Dungeons and Dragons game who summon an other-worldly visitor. The exciting part of doing these 48 hour contests is the way it challenges us to be extremely creative while at the same time managing our time. It’s definitely one of the most fun events we take part in throughout the year!”

Our Tampa video production company films Tampa short film for 48 Hour Film Festival

Our gaffer, Andrew Ortoski and director of photography, Ryan Grosjean, setup the Dana Dolly for filming overhead shots

Saturday 9am. In the morning, our team of 21 crew members and 7 actors met at our location to start setting up and prepare for the adventure. With only 32 hours to go, the clock was ticking! We filmed most of the movie with 2 Canon C100s from our Tampa camera equipment rental and we also used a Sony A7S to capture slow motion footage. Our Florida video camera crew used a Dana Dolly and our Freefly Movi M5 camera stabilizer to get uniques angles and dynamic moving shots.

Our Tampa video production company films Tampa short film for 48 Hour Film Festival

Our Tampa video crew with the cast in between takes

Our Florida grip and lighting crew brought our Tampa grip truck to ensure we had ample gear for the shoot on location. Our lighting team lit the set with a variety of sources including Kino Flo Divas, an Arri 1K with soft Box, and Litepanel LED lights, all sourced from our Tampa grip and lighting rental packages. Over 50 candles were lit and scattered around the set. Crew covered windows and doors to simulate nighttime so we could shoot during the day. The film is set in a dark and mystical environment so the lighting and cinematography team wanted to adjust the location lighting to match the story.

Our Tampa video production company films Tampa short film for 48 Hour Film Festival

Our production design team adding candles to the location

Our Tampa costume designers had a blast outfitting the actors in quirky attire to match their characters’ unique personalities. Bridget Desjarlais created unique looks for each character, and local leather worker Joshua Von War-Bear pieced together a custom costume for a barbarian character.

Our Tampa video production company films Tampa short film for 48 Hour Film Festival

Christian filming Monster Washburn who plays the Barbarian

Saturday 10pm. With less than 24 hours to go, our Tampa post-production company started editing Saturday on-location to get a head start. Music, sound design and visual FX were added on Sunday at one of our Tampa editing suites. Our Florida post production company also color corrected the film, and Stephen Maxwell composed an original score for the movie.

Our Tampa video production company films Tampa short film for 48 Hour Film Festival

Our cast and crew reviews playback of a scene on set

Sunday 6pm. With only minutes to spare, the movie was finished right after 6pm and turned in on-time!

Our Tampa video production company films Tampa short film for 48 Hour Film Festival

Cast and crew of “That’s How I Roll” at the 48 Hour Film Festival movie premiere event

Our short film titled “That’s How I Roll” premiered on August 9th at the HCC Ybor Main Stage Theatre for the 48 Hour Film Festival screening event. Our cast and crew reunited at the premiere to celebrate our achievement and see the final product for the first time. Production Coordinator Ana Christina says, “It was a lot of fun watching all the other movies that were submitted to the festival. There is so much talent in Tampa Bay!”

To view our award-winning film “That’s How I Roll” click below!

Our 48 Hour Film took the festival by storm! Our Tampa video production company was nominated for 9 awards and won 5 at the 48 hour “Best of” Awards Ceremony!

We were honored to take home these amazing awards:

Audience Choice

Best Writing 

Best Cinematography 

Best Sound Design

Best Special Effects

Our Tampa video production company films Tampa short film for 48 Hour Film Festival

Our award-winning Tampa production team celebrates at the awards ceremony for the 48 Film Festival

Our Florida video company is extremely proud of our team. We produced an award-winning film all in less than 48 hours, and had a blast doing it! We’re looking forward to screening our film at some upcoming festivals this year. We had an amazing team of filmmakers and actors and could not have done it without them! THANKS!

Our Tampa video production company films Tampa short film for 48 Hour Film Festival

The cast and crew filming on location. There’s a lot of love in that room!

Thanks to photographers Taylor Blake, Samantha Greene, Anthony Brock and everyone else who contributed photos to the gallery!

Do you have a Tampa short film or feature you would like to produce? Please contact us for a free consultation. You can like Litewave Media on Facebook to check out our latest video projects. Be sure to keep up with the blog for more Tampa video production news!

Litewave Media Films TV Commercials for Tampa Comic-Con

Litewave Media Films TV Commercials for Tampa Comic-Con

Star Wars legend Carrie Fischer?!

Bad-to-the-bone Terminator actress Linda Hamilton, aka Sarah Conner?!

And guess who’s Back…to the Future…. star Lea Thompson?!

They’ll all be visiting this year’s pop cultural phenomenon, Tampa Bay Comic Con. This fan favorite event has been getting bigger and better every year! This year’s convention will be held from July 31st till August 2nd at The Tampa Convention Center, and it’s poised to be the biggest one yet! The convention will be bringing famed movie and TV actors as well as comic book authors and artists, and cosplay enthusiasts. Our Tampa video production company had the exciting opportunity to film TV and radio commercials for Tampa Bay Comic-Con 2015 to promote this year’s convention.

Our Tampa video company worked with Comic-Con at last year’s convention, filming a promo video for Tampa Bay Comic-Con 2014, and we were thrilled to get to work with them again this year for their TV commercials.

Litewave Media films video production Tampa commercials for Tampa Bay Comic Con

Litewave Media crew with the Tampa Bay Comic Con team at our Tampa video studio

Tampa Bay Comic-Con hired our production company and rented our Tampa video studio to film a 30 second TV ad that began airing Monday July 27th. The commercials were filmed on our White Cyc studio wall. Our Tampa video crew lit the studio with 2 Kino Flo Diva-Lites, 1 LED light and an array of our state-of-the-art Altman LED Spectra Cyc lights from our Tampa lighting equipment rental. Our director of photography, Christian Cashmir, filmed the commercials with our Canon C100 with cinema lenses from our Tampa camera equipment rental. Ana Christina Sanchez was the Production Coorinator during the shoot and Litewave Media’s intern Taylor Blake took behind-the-scenes pictures with our Canon 5D mark III.

Litewave Media films commercials for Tampa Bay Comic Con

Actress, Victoria, dressed as Katniss from the Hunger Games for Tampa Bay Comic-Con’s 2015 TV commercial

Tampa Bay Comic-Con had a number of costumes for the talent to dress up in for the commercials. Our Florida video company along with the make-up artist on set, did our best to emulate legendary characters from movies and TV series such as Princess Leia, Daenerys Targaryen and Katniss Everdeen.

Litewave Media films commercials for Tampa Bay Comic Con

The make-up artist transforming actress Victoria into Princess Leia

Tampa Bay Comic also came into our Tampa recording studio to record the radio commercial for the Con as well. Our Tampa post production company edited and color corrected the commercials at our Tampa editing suites. Some visual FX were also added to enhance the TV advertising including a Star Wars blaster effect.

Litewave Media films commercials for Tampa Bay Comic Con

Christian Cashmir films the Princess Leia TV spot for Tampa Bay Comic Con

Check out the TV spot below!

The commercials will be featured on the following networks ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX at the end of July 2015.

Litewave Media films commercials for Tampa Bay Comic Con

The cast and crew celebrates wrapping the Tampa TV commercial

Do you have a Tampa TV or radio commercial you would like to produce or a video production Tampa? Please contact us for a free consultation. You can like Litewave Media on Facebook to check out our latest video projects. Be sure to keep up with our blog for more Tampa video production news!

Litewave Media Films Boxing with ESPN

Litewave Media Films Boxing with ESPN

Our Tampa video production company has had the incredible opportunity to film inspiring athletes and exciting sport games and matches over the last few years, including US Open Winner Graeme McDowell, boxing world champion Keith Thurman and Guiness World Record tight-rope walker Nik Wallenda. Our Florida video company got the chance to work with Keith Thurman, a St. Petersburg FL native, again when ESPN hired our video company to film their press conference and fight that will kick-off the live coverage of their Premiere Boxing Champion program.

Litewave Media films boxing event for ESPN

Keith Thurman entering the ring at USF Sundome

Our Tampa video crew took our Tampa grip truck to the USF Sundome to film for the fight. Our Director of Photography, Christian Cashmir, filmed the press conference with our Panasonic HPX-170 from our Tampa camera equipment rental. The camera recorded a direct feed that transmitted all the footage to ESPN’s channel live! Mike Stahr captured the sound at the press conference.

Litewave Media films boxing event for ESPN

Our Tampa video crew gets ready to film Thurman and Collazo’s press conference at the Sundome

The press conference highlighted Keith Thurman (26-0) and Luis Collazo (36-7) as they talked about their lives, their boxing experiences and how they trained and prepared for this, their latest fight for the World Welterweight Championship. The fight was broadcasted as the main event in ESPN’s Premiere Boxing Champion. The press conference also featured boxers Tony Harrison and Willie Nelson who were fighting before the Thurman and Collazo fight.

Litewave Media films boxing event for ESPN

Thurman and Collazo fight for the World Championship Title

Our Tampa video agency had a blast filming this exciting live event and working with ESPN. We look forward to working with them in the future. Congratulations to St. Pete’s own Keith Thurman for winning the match and keeping his undefeated title!

Do you have a Tampa live video production or Tampa video interview you would like to film? Please contact us for a free consultation. You can like Litewave Media on Facebook to check out our latest video projects. Be sure to keep up with the blog for more Tampa video production news!

Litewave Media Films Nobel Peace Prize Winner Elie Wiesel

Litewave Media Films Nobel Peace Prize Winner Elie Wiesel

It’s inspiring to work with people who change the world, and last month, we worked with a great man, Elie Wiesel, holocaust survivor and political activist. He is the author of 57 books that were inspired by his experiences in life. His most recognized book, Night, is based on his experiences as a prisioner in a concentration camp during the second world war. Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for speaking out about racism, violence and repression.

Our Tampa video production company was humbled and honored to film an interview with him, as well as photograph him. “I remember reading his book Night in high school,” says Christian Cashmir, Litewave Media founder, “It really changed the way I saw the world as a young person. To meet the man behind this book and so many others was a really amazing experience.”

Litewave Media films Nobel Peace Prize winner Eli Wiesel

Litewave Media photographs Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel

The interview was setup at a local college in St. Petersburg, Florida where Wiesel was speaking. Our Tampa video crew arrived at Eckerd College and began setting up and lighting the location. We brought our Tampa grip truck and lit the interview with Kino Flo Divas and an LED light kit to complement the natural daylight from the windows. We filmed the interview with a Canon C100 video camera and a Canon 5D Mark III.

Elie spoke about his personal experiences, the obstacles he has had to face and the support he received from his family and friends. It was very interesting hearing his perspective and insights to the world.

Litewave Media films Nobel Peace Prize winner Eli Wiesel

Christian Cashmir, Elie Wiesel and Rami

Our Florida video company was extremely proud to meet and film Elie Wiesel and learn more about his life and the obstacles he has faced. Elie is an inspiration and our team looks forward to seeing what he does next.

Do you have a Tampa video production or Tampa video interview you would like to film? Please contact us for a free consultation. You can like Litewave Media on Facebook to check out our latest video projects. Be sure to keep up with the blog for more Tampa video production news!

Litewave Media Films Guiness Record Tightrope Walker Nik Wallenda for TIME

Litewave Media Films Guiness Record Tightrope Walker Nik Wallenda for TIME

Litewave Media was honored to receive a call from TIME magazine’s video department about filming an upcoming video series called The Ultras: Extreme Adventurers. The web series documents adventurers around the globe. The segment we filmed was on world renowned tightrope walker Nik Wallenda. (Please wait a minute for the video below to load)

Nik Wallenda is a 7th generation funambulist or more commonly known as a tightrope walker. His family has been challenging themselves and taking risks with acrobatics since the beginning of the 18th Century. Nik has broken several world records since he started performing on the high-wire. He is the first person to walk across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope. Some of his other feats include: tightrope walking across Niagara Falls, walking between two Chicago skyscrapers blindfolded, and hanging from a helicopter with only his teeth. He has 9 Guiness World Records and he recently set another world record with his latest acrobatics challenge.

Litewave Media films private interview with Nik Wallenda

Litewave Media’s Christian Cashmir films an interview with Nik Wallenda

Our Tampa video production company was honored to film an exclusive interview with Nik Wallenda about his next high-wire performance for TIME Magazine. Wallenda walked on top of the observation wheel called the Orlando Eye, a 400-foot-tall spinning wheel, on April 29th. Unlike the tightrope walking, this new challenge was different in that the wheel was constantly moving so he had to keep pace with it as it rotated.

Litewave Media films private interview with Nik Wallenda

Christian uses the jib to film Nik walking the tightrope

Our Tampa video crew took our Tampa grip truck to the location in Sarasota. Christian directed the interview and operated the camera, Harold “Pinky” Hood served as lighting tech, and Ana Christina Sanchez was production assistant for the shoot. During the interview, Nik talked about his passion for tightrope walking, his family legacy and his next challenge – walking atop the Orlando Eye.

Litewave Media films private interview with Nik Wallenda

Nik walks on the tightrope he uses for training

Our Tampa video production crew captured Nik Wallenda training for his next tightrope walk. He utilizes a smaller practice rope where he polishes his technique before a challenge. During his strict training regimen, he simulates the environment he will be in when performing. To capture some dynamic b-roll Litewave Media brought out our EZ-FX Jib to film Nik on the tightrope. Christian and Ana Christina also traveled around Sarasota filming b-roll for the video. They filmed iconic Tampa Bay landmarks including the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and Tampa Bay to set the scene for the story.

Litewave Media films private interview with Nik Wallenda

Litewave Media crew Ana Christina Sanchez and Christian Cashmir with tightrope walker Nik Wallenda

Our Florida video company was extremely proud to meet and film with Nik and get some behind-the-scenes insight into the training for his next project. We can’t wait to see what he has in store for his next challenge!

Do you have a Tampa video production or Tampa video commercial you would like to film? Please contact us for a free consultation. You can like Litewave Media on Facebook to check out our latest video projects. Be sure to keep up with the blog for more Tampa video production news!